YEAR B: HOMILY FOR THE 17TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (2)

YEAR B: HOMILY FOR THE 17TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

HOMILY THEME: THE MIRACLE WE TRULY NEED

BY: Fr. Mike Lagrimas

HOMILY:

John 6:1-15

A certain king announced that he is going to visit a village in his kingdom. The villagers were excited. They agreed that each man contribute a jar of wine for the feast. All the wine was to be poured into a big barrel from which it would be served. One man thought to himself: with all the men in the village each pouring a jar of wine into the barrel, what difference would it make if I poured in a jar of water and save my wine? A jar of water among so much wine would hardly make any difference. Unfortunately, he was not the only man in the village who thought that way. Many other men had also contributed water instead of wine, thinking that it did not matter, since other people’s contributions would make up for their not contributing. When the king arrived and the barrel of wine was ready to be served, it was discovered to be full of water and very little wine. A jar of wine did matter after all.

In the Gospel this Sunday, Jesus saw the vast crowd, numbering five thousand men, not counting women and children. He asked Philip where they could get food to give to the people. Philip’s response was realistic and practical: “Two hundred days’ wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little [bit]” (Jn 6:7). At this point, Andrew came forward with a suggestion: “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish.” And immediately, he added his personal judgment: “But what good are these for so many?” (Jn 6:9).This is the same question in our story. A jar of water would not matter to a barrel of wine. But the villagers were wrong. It did matter. Five loaves of bread and two fish: these are nothing to five thousand hungry men. But the apostles were wrong. Five loaves and two fish in the hand of a human being are nothing. But five loaves and two fish in the hand of Jesus is everything. It is not the bread and fish that mattered. Rather it is the hand of Jesus holding the bread and fish that mattered.

The first lesson, then, is about trust in God. The world is undergoing economic crisis. Our political and business leaders have tried everything from bailout money to tax incentives to stimulus packages. One thing they have not yet tried, or are not even considering trying, is God. Psalm 127 says: “Unless the Lord build the house, they labor in vain who build. Unless the Lord guard the city, in vain does the guard keep watch.” And Jesus said: “I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing” (Jn 15:5).The boy, amazingly, gave away all his food: five barley loaves and two fish. He was notafraid he was going to starve. He trusted that giving all his food would not leave him in thecold. Beneath his generosity is his undaunted trust in God. He must have listened intently on every word of Jesus. And he truly believed his words. So giving up his food was not thatdifficult because of his trust in Jesus.This is similar to the example of the poor widow who donated her every cent to the Temple treasury (Lk 21:1-4). She trusted God fully that she gave everything she had to live on. AndJesus praised her profusely. This is the same thing with the widow of Zarephath during thegreat famine in Israel at the time of Elijah (1 Kings 17:7-16). She trusted in God and she gave the prophet her last food. As a result, her jar of flour did not go empty and her jug of oil didnot run dry.

Generosity and trust: they always go together. A person who does not trust God will neverlearn to be generous. And when a person learns to trust God, he can be truly generous. Hewill learn to let go and let God. It is like placing all our resources in the hands of Jesus. It isthe hands of Jesus holding our resources that really matters. Gathering all our resources inour hands, they amount to nothing. Gathering all the gold bullions and trillions of dollars inthe hands of the President in order to solve the economic problem will amount to nothing.Generosity and trust in God is what will solve the world’s economic problems. However, it looks like we are still far away from this solution. Instead of trusting God, people trust intheir wealth and human powers. And instead of being generous, selfishness and greed rulethe day. People are unwilling to share. They think sharing will mean having less, and therefore becoming unhappy. Instead, they hoard and amass wealth, by hook or by crook.They think hoarding will mean having more and make them happy. The words of God in the parable of the rich fool should warn us: “You fool, this night your life will be demanded ofyou; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?” (Lk 12:20).

It is already a proven fact that God provides for everything we need. And He cannot beoutdone in generosity. He can do any miracle to help us and provide us with everything weneed. The miracle that the world needs now is not the multiplication of bread. Of what use isthat if we continue with our selfish and greedy ways? It is always said: “The world is enough for man’s need; but the world is not enough for man’s greed.” The miracle that the world needs now is the conversion of the hearts of people: hearts that have full trust in God’s providence so that we can learn to let go of our possessions and share them with others. Then more miracles will happen in our midst, today and everyday!